


Nightingale Not the Lark

by iam93percentstardust



Series: The Play's the Thing [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Coda, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:28:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24943882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iam93percentstardust/pseuds/iam93percentstardust
Summary: The first thing Steve learned about living with Tony, after A Midsummer Night’s Dream wrapped and after they moved in together, was that Tony, if he wasn’t working on a show, was not a morning person. Steve liked to wake with the dawn, rising with the sun to get the simple stuff done first: breakfast, work out, shower, and if he was lucky, maybe a bout of morning sex. Of course, that only worked if Tony was also awake and Tony rarely was.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: The Play's the Thing [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1805272
Comments: 13
Kudos: 186





	Nightingale Not the Lark

**Author's Note:**

> pensivegrace said:
> 
> Hey, if you're feeling up to it, maybe something from 'Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be?' post the show wrapping up its run for Steve and Tony? Sort of a where are they now with their careers and each other. Thanks!

The first thing Steve learned about living with Tony, after _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_ wrapped and after they moved in together, was that Tony, if he wasn’t working on a show, was not a morning person. Steve liked to wake with the dawn, rising with the sun to get the simple stuff done first: breakfast, work out, shower, and if he was lucky, maybe a bout of morning sex. Of course, that only worked if Tony was also awake and Tony rarely was.

Tony was the kind of person who liked to wake sometime around mid-morning, usually around 9:00 to 9:30 and he almost always liked to laze in bed for another couple of hours if there wasn’t anything pressing to be done. This would be great for Steve’s plans of morning sex if it weren’t for the fact that, by that time, he was usually already out the door and on the go. Tony always laughed it off, saying that one of these days, they’d be up early enough for anything Steve wanted to do. Then he’d stretched out across the length of the couch, head landing neatly in Steve’s lap as his hoodie rode up enough to reveal a strip of smooth skin between his shirt and his leggings and Steve’s mouth had gone dry.

He didn’t mind that Tony wasn’t ever up early in the morning. In fact, he kind of loved that Tony felt comfortable enough to sleep when Steve was awake. Tony had confessed when Steve moved into the apartment that, towards the end of his relationship with Stone, there had been times when he hadn’t felt safe sleeping while Stone was awake. He’d never elaborated on that but Steve had always had an active imagination. He hadn’t needed any elaboration.

Today was just like any other day.

The sun peeked through the gauzy curtains, falling across Steve’s face in warm stripes and waking him up. He stretched, groaning as his back popped a couple times. Two years had passed since the show opened. Steve was nearing thirty and his body was definitely letting him know that he wasn’t a college student anymore.

He rolled over onto his side, putting his back to the window so he could take in a much more appealing sight. Tony slept on his stomach most nights, arms tucked up under his head, face tucked to the side so he could breathe in cool air. He slept with less blankets than Steve usually did and they’d compromised with less blankets than Steve wanted and more than Tony did but that was okay because Tony would often kick his blankets off in the middle of the night and Steve would unconsciously gather them to his side.

He really liked that Tony kicked off his blankets, mostly because Tony slept in the nude and it was the highlight of Steve’s morning to roll over and see that expanse of Tony’s back, lit up with golden light all the way down to that perfect little butt that he always wanted to squeeze—and often had.

Steve propped himself up on his elbow and leaned over to place a kiss on the back of Tony’s neck. “Morning, sweetheart,” he murmured.

Tony shivered, goosebumps rising on his nape, and Steve grinned. He loved that he could make Tony feel like this even in his sleep. He kissed him again, a little lower on his spine, and then down even further.

“Too early,” Tony grumbled sleepily.

“Too late,” Steve countered. “Can’t you hear the birds?”

“It was the nightingale, and not the lark, that pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear,” Tony quoted.

Steve laughed, huffing against Tony’s back. “It was the lark, the herald of the morn, no nightingale,” he quoted back. “And if you’re reciting Shakespeare this early in the morning then I think you’re definitely awake.”

“You don’t give me enough credit. I can recite Shakespeare at any time.”

He almost wants to test him on that, take his kisses lower and lower and see if Tony can recite plays when Steve is making him scream his pleasure, but… “I just wanted to tell you I love you before I get up.”

Tony sat up, gently shoving him aside, and yawned. “Interview with _New Day_ , right?”

Steve stood and walked to the closet as he hummed his assent. He was thinking a dark blue suit, maybe the one that he wore to last year’s Tony Awards. He knew that Tony, fashion-forward as always would have chosen something bolder, but he liked the classics.

“Is that one liberal or conservative?”

“I don’t think this one as an affiliation but they’re on CNN.”

“So conservative masquerading as liberal.”

“You know, one of these days, you’ll get over your hatred for _Good Morning America_.” He thought about Tony’s last appearance on the show, could see Tony thinking about it as well, and Steve shook his head. “Maybe not.”

“Are you flying out?” Tony asked, sounding more awake by the minute.

“No, they’re coming to New York this time.”

“Nice of them. CNN usually films in Atlanta, don’t they?”

Steve couldn’t really remember but that sounded right. Either way, it _was_ very nice of them to come to New York so he didn’t have to fly out the day before they started rehearsals for _Romeo and Juliet_. He’d actually bought a very nice bottle of wine to give to the hosts as a gift to thank them for coming all this way.

“I’ll be back in a few hours,” he said as he finished buttoning his suit jacket.

“Aren’t you forgetting to shave?” Tony asked confusedly.

Steve grinned and leaned over the bed to kiss Tony’s forehead. “Are you honestly telling me that you’re going to be awake by the time I come out of the bathroom?”

Tony thought about it. “Not even a little bit.”

He laughed again. God, he loved this man. “Well, at least you know your faults.”

“Such lies,” Tony said promptly. “I have none. I am perfect and beautiful and if I need more sleep, it’s because everyone should have more sleep and you’re a godless heathen for waking up before the sky does.”

“You’re something, alright,” Steve agreed, kissing him again, this time on his smiling mouth because he couldn’t resist a happy Tony.

“Yeah?” Tony purred. “And what’s that?”

“Mine.”

Tony’s eyes went dark and he shivered. “That—that works.” He cleared his throat. “Don’t you think you should get going before you’re late?”

It was the absolute last thing Steve wanted to do. He wanted to strip off his suit and pull Tony back down to the pillows, fuck into him until Tony was soft and sated and gorgeous in his arms. He wanted to spend all day in bed loving him the way he should be loved, bringing them to completion over and over again. But he was under contractual obligations to talk about _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_ wrapping four months ago and their new upcoming project with Coulson. _New Day_ had wanted to get Tony on the show as well, the Mercutio to Steve’s Benvolio, but Tony flatly refused to do any morning shows since his one disastrous interview with _Good Morning America_ so they’d had to make do with just Steve instead.

“Do I have to?” Steve asked, suddenly wishing he’d told them no. Phillips had told him it would be a good idea but now he wished he’d passed them off to Bucky and Natasha. They were the stars of the new show after all.

“Quicker you’re into it, the quicker you’re out of it,” Tony quipped. He tapped the side of Steve’s nose lightly. “And if you’re back home quicker, the more time you can spend with me.”

And that was a pretty good incentive to march into the bathroom. By the time he came back out, Tony was indeed sound asleep again, blankets still mostly kicked off and just barely covering the curve of his ass. Steve smiled fondly at him, thinking about the ring sitting in a box in the back of his tie drawer. _Soon_ , he thought to himself, _I’ll ask him soon._ He leaned down, brushing the curls off of Tony’s face so he could place one last, lingering kiss against his forehead.

“Love you,” he whispered.


End file.
